Not my beach
At times I can be quite self-conscious about my Portuguese – I know I should just lighten up and get on with learning and improving, but if I’m not in a great mood then it’s very easy to notice all the mistakes and forget about all the things I’m getting right.
However, every so often I’m reminded that many of the people I meet day-to-day are also struggling away with their own language challenges. While I’m working on my Portuguese, many of them are working on their *English! At times this can lead to a language stand-off: “Let’s speak English shall we?” “Não! Vamos falar português!”
*I’m aware other languages exist and are learned by Brazilians, but English is the most common.
I find it rather comforting to be reminded that I’m not the only one with language issues. When we are lamenting our respective difficulties, one of the things that Brazilians often mention is the trouble they have with English words which are differentiated only by a long or short “e”. They will often tell me that they struggle with the difference between “beach” and “bitch”! The other example they mention is “sheet/shit”.
This then leads to drawn out demonstrations which involve me repeating “Sheeeeeeeeeet? Shit! Sheeeeeeeet? Shit! See? And now beeeeeeeeeeeeach? Bitch!”. Passing American tourists usually look at me like I’m crazy…
Beeeeeeeeach! This is Ipanema at sunset, looking back towards Arpoador. The Arpoador rocky peninsula is a popular place to sit and watch the sunset.
Speaking of beaches, I heard a rather nice phrase not so long ago. I was talking to a Brazilian guy about the lively night-life in the neighbourhood of Lapa, when he said “Não é minha praia” (It’s not my beach).
If I had been more literal-minded I would have told him that Lapa isn’t anyone’s beach because it is surrounded by other neighbourhoods and therefore doesn’t even haver a coastline, let alone a beach! But of course I realised that what he meant was that the hustle, bustle and chaos of Lapa wasn’t really his scene.
A few days later heard my Portuguese teacher use the same phrase… to describe the beach! I was telling her how hot and crowded Ipanema beach had been on my last visit (not a bad thing in my opinion) and then she used the phrase, going on to explain that she hates the beach because she can’t handle the sun with her fair skin. The beach is not her beach!
On sunny weekends, the beach can get a little crowded…
Somehow this phrase seems very appropriate in Rio. The beach is the focal point of so many aspects of life here, from huge events like Réveillon (New Year’s Eve) in Copacabana, to laid back weekends hanging with friends and family. I wonder if this phrase is also used in other parts of Brazil that aren’t near the coast?
In Britain we say that something is “not my cup of tea”. This phrase is never going to work in Brazil because very few people drink tea here and so no one has a kettle (Chaleira Elétrica). This is mine, one of my most treasured possessions…
yes , this expression is used everywhere in brazil.
in my case they both sound funny :
beach is not my beach ( i don’t like going to the seaside )
tea is not my cup of tea ( i don’t drink tea)
i know lots of brazilians in brazil who own a kettle , you can easily find at stores
Anna – you don’t like the beach or tea?! I am shocked! ;) I bet you like Brigadeiro thought don’t you? :)
Sorry about the kettle thing, my “no one has a kettle” thing wasn’t quite right – what I should have said is that electric kettles are not the essential item in everyone’s kitchen (which they are back in Britain). Stove-top kettles seem to be very common, but of the people I know here, I don’t think anyone else has a electric kettle. But you’re right, they do sell them in stores because I bought mine here!
brigadeiro is my cup of tea!!! LOL
I meant electric kettles too… all my friends and family have one too. its so convenient !!
I am scared of pressure cookers :(
Hee hee! I used to be terrified of them too!
“… nao eh a minha praia” is used in Sao Paulo but it’s a good question if it’s used further inland.
Btw, people do use kettles in Brazil (how else would you boil water to cook the rice?) but the vast majority are not electric. :) Even then, I know a couple of people that have electric ones. I think they are slowly becoming more available.
Brazilians use kettles to cook rice? How does that work?
Why don’t they use rice cookers?
In Australia we usually cook rice in pans on stoves or in rice cookers.
No, we don’t cook rice in kettles. We use a stove top kettle (looks like this:http://i.s8.com.br/images/domutilities/cover/img1/1935621_4.jpg), to boil water which is then poured into a separate pan with rice.
Japanese-Brazilians probably do use rice cookers quite a lot. It’s common to see them in stores in Liberdade, the Japanese/Oriental neighborhood in Sao Paulo. But asking why Brazilians in general don’t use rice cookers is a bit like asking why Brits (I don’t know about Australians) don’t use pressure cookers. There’s no good reason, they just don’t.
It’s an interesting question about why we don’t have pressure cookers in the UK anymore. I say “anymore” because I think they were quite popular in the 1970s. My mum used to have one back then and I’m pretty sure that for many Brits pressure cookers have a strong association with the 1970s in a similar way to fondues and ABBA (though both of these have been revived in the last few years :) ).
I think if the British ate beans as much as the Brazilians and the Brazilians drank as much tea as the British then things would be different!
What a great phrase. So much cooler than “Not my cup of tea”.
Awesome article Tom. Great little observations.
Thanks Will! :)
When I catch myself saying “not my cup of tea” here, it makes me feel like some stereotypical English aristocrat who refers to people as “chaps” and finishes sentences with “what-what old boy” ;)
That’s actually how I’ve always thought of you Tom, but in a good way.
Not so much an aristocrat, more like one of those stiff-upper-lip WWII fighter pilots.
Heh heh! I should grow a moustache and start saying things like “steady on old boy!” ;)
As someone from landlocked Brasilia I can happily confirm we also use “nao e a minha praia.” when it’s not our cup of tea :) ‘Candangos’ (initial inhabitants) were in their majority from the coast so that might explain why we use it though.
KETTLES! Just came here really to say that although you can find it in stores, it is not normal to find kettles in Brazilian homes. In my family we used to have a ‘water’ pan – a pan specifically used to boil water, gladly replaced by a kettle now! It is still my favourite gift to give when I go back home…
cheers!
So they say it in Brasília too? I’m really surprised! I felt a bit silly asking the question because when I thought about it, it seemed highly unlikely that anyone far from the coast would use the phrase, but your explanation makes total sense. I bet they don’t say it up in Manaus though… [already preparing to be proved wrong on that!]
Ah kettles, I lived here without one for about a year and finally found one in a branch of Multi Coisas, my favourite shop for all things home improvement! It was quite expensive, but it’s a decent kettle and living without one for so long has made me really appreciate it.
When I hear the word kettle, I automatically think “electric kettle” – I guess I just assume the “electric” part because they’ve been in every house and office in the UK since before I was born. I would love to donate a kettle to my office at work so I could get back to drinking 10 cups of tea a day… I’m sure they will become more popular here in Brazil over time – they’re so useful! :)
I’ve heard that in the coastal regions of Bahia the phrase “não é a minha horta” (used toward the same end) is gaining in popularity. Rumor has it that a Brit, over-anxious in sharing info concerning his herb garden, inspired the expression. Police reports have also linked the phrase to many cases of uttered last words in suicides comitted in the Itacaré region of said state.
Ha ha ha! You had me for the duration of the first sentence! I was even thinking “that’s really cool – I knew I liked the Baianos! Good people who value a proper garden…” – then I realised, you were making a joke… At my expense… :(
Well I’m going to take that joke and make it reality! From now on, no more cups of tea or beaches. I will be dropping não é a minha horta into conversation casually and will feign surprise when people say they haven’t heard of it. It will become the new YOLO (I read on the internet that that’s what all the kids are saying nowadays…)
“I will be dropping não é a minha horta into conversation casually and will feign surprise when people say they haven’t heard of it.”
Yes, but will you be able to feign surprise when they get up and leave? :-)
If you think about it though não é a minha horta should be the go to expression for rural folks when conveying não é a minha praia. In addition to being more suitable to a countryside setting one also gets a notion of hard work and dilligence from the horta version that is absent in its praia counterpart.
They wouldn’t leave! They’d call their friends over, saying “Hey everyone, come and meet this cool guy! He’s got a great new phrase!”
Something like that probably…
Not sure about the hard work element though – the beach and the cup of tea are both ways that we relax and take a break aren’t they? (Brazil got the better deal on that one I think…).
“Not sure about the hard work element though – the beach and the cup of tea are both ways that we relax and take a break aren’t they? (Brazil got the better deal on that one I think…).”
True; but the horta is a way of relaxing while still being productive to a certain extent. I associate such behavior with rural people (just a preconcieved notion I guess). Regarding beach vs tea you’d be surprised on how agreeable the latter can be.
Oops, seems like the link above featured a whole playlist for Marina’s Hot for Words program. I just wanted to feature the episode below though. Please fix it Tom.
What do you think this is? Some kind of link fixing service? ;)
Hi Tom.
I loved reading this post today and I was wondering if you know any expression in English which is the equivalent of our ” o gato subiu no telhado”
Obrigada :o)
Hi Eliana! Thanks, I’m glad you liked the post! Did you know I actually wrote about “o gato subiu no telhado” here? https://eatrio.net/2012/10/the-cat-is-on-the-roof.html
I’m thinking and thinking but can’t come up with an English equivalent. I’m sure one must exist – maybe my brain is too busy thinking about the weekend! :)
I can’t think of one tbh.
In response to the main post, they say “não é a minha praia” in BH too, so it seems like a pretty nationwide thing!
Hi Tom,
Please check out my podcast – http://www.brazilianpodclass.com – and pass it on to people who are interested in learning Portuguese.
Tudo de bom,
Marina
Hi Marina – thanks for this – if you send me a direct mail, I’ll add it to the list of language resources I’ll be adding to the site in the next couple of months :)
Hi!
Thought it would be interesting sharing but it is also used in Portugal.
All the best!